Presenting a temptingly delicious platter piled high with recipes for two, time-saving kitchen tips, helpful cooking hints, and winsome commentary - all served with a side of garlic-infused humor and a steaming bowl of buffoonery.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Every year I make it a point to jot down a few New Year Resolutions and this year is no different... Although this year I started thinking about them before March.

So here they are. And because I wrote them down in a blog, it only makes sense that everyone else should embrace them as well.

I hope they inspire you. Uplift you. And, after reading mine, I hope you will feel really, really good about the one's that you made.

Now, let's fill our glasses and face the onslaught of the New Year with these, my New Year Resolutions:

- Make my New Year Resolutions before January 1st. (Crap. It's the 10th you say? Okay. I mucked up. Do over.)

- Eat less red meat. With the exception of steaks and ribs. And grilled lamb chops. (By the way, is bacon a red meat?)

- And while we're on the subject of meat: Don't buy anything from the meat department whose label is not sanctioned by the USDA or is not recognized by any other food authority. I'm talking about cuts that might be creatively labeled "Canadian Butcher Free Range Sizzlin' Steaks" (frozen, of course).

Or how about, "Chuck Flank Mock Tender Steaks - Great for Grilling!" (not to mention plugging up the sink drain in case you misplaced the black plastic thing that came with the food disposal).

Or, "Young Grass Fed New Zealand Lamb or It Could Be Pork or Maybe a Large Fowl of Some Sort." (Either way, just cook the damned thing and serve with plenty of beer. No one will notice).

Or one of my favorites, "North Jersey Perth Amboy Brownfield Steaks." (But hey, for $1.98 a pound it was certainly worth a shot, even though they had a greenish tint and smelled like someone's car had just overheated.)

- Try the gluten-free thing. I understand that many folk are going gluten-free even though they are not gluten-intolerant and are touting the healthy benefits. Perhaps 2012 is the year I give it a whirl...as long as it doesn't include giving up things like toasted Cuban bread or any type of pasta, I'm good to go.

- Drink more water and less scotch. Unless, of course, the scotch is in the water, then make it a double. If you're buying, let's set up a tab.

- Start jogging regularly again. However, two years ago I vowed to run 4 miles a day. But by the end of the first week I was like over 20 miles from home, so I said screw this. But this year I talked to an actual runner and he said if I'm going to run for 4 miles, I need to run 2 miles out and 2 miles back. Problem solved

- Buy more fresh produce from local growers at the farmer's market. (Except, perhaps, from that guy two-thirds of the way down whose citrus fruit is always stamped "Sunkist". I mean, what are the odds that a local grower would share the same name of a major conglomerate? I guess stranger things have happened.)

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

I mean, how could you go wrong with a quote from someone that was probably called 'Ralphie' or, gasp, 'Wally'(!) when he was growing up. You *gotta* listen to a guy like that.

So...Happy New Year dear friends and fellow food lovers. I'm looking forward to your ideas, comments, and wiseguy remarks in this upcoming year.

I would be a poorer man without them.

Now let's raise a glass!

And since it's the 10th, let's raise two. We have a lot to catch up on...

I love this "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

Most of those were my silent, unspoken ones last year and I actually kept to them and I feel genuinelly better in myself in my life! Doing a gluten free course was completely enlightening (I'm not a coeliac and here we're not massive on the whole "people that can eat gluten cutting it out entirely" fad thing but I have a lot of coeliac friends and variety is the healthy spice of life). I started buying ALL my meat and fish from independent butchers and fishmongers and, I tell you, if over there is like here it actually ends up way cheaper for far, far better quality and ethics!

And I finished the novel. And then read seven others :P

This year I just plan to eat at least one fish-centred dinner a week because I certainly wasn't eating enough. I call it my "New Year's Resol-ocean" :P

And thanks for an excuse to pour myself a glass of wine to toast at four in the afternoon! Good luck with everything!

@Amanda at the red table. Well, you know we have to keep on trying even if we tempt failure. As author Roger von Oech once said: "Remember the two benefits of failure. First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn't work; and second, the failure gives you the opportunity to try a new approach.” So perhaps a new approach might be drinking your red wine in a white wine glass :-)

@savoringeverybite. Always good to have another Florida blogger on board, Linda. Feel free to have look around. I hope you'll come by again (and if you do, bring along some of those caramelized oranges!)

@peanutbutterandpeppers. Thanks, Jennifer! Y'know you can never go wrong with an Emerson quote, lol. And hey, if you come by again, bring along some of that caramelized chicken cuz I believe Linda from savoringeverybite might bring along some of her caramelized oranges and even tho' she usually prepares them with yogurt, we all may want to try them with the chicken. :-)

@downhomesouthjersey. Glad it brought a smile, Jennifer. And I find it hard to completely cut out an entire food group. Even when my doctor advised me to cut out all polystyrene products from my diet it was a struggle (I mean, don't we all get those sudden cravings for those packing chips, especially the colored ones?). :-D

@Juls (Pepper and Sherry) I like the idea of silent and unspoken resolutions - that way no one but you knows how well you did (or in my case, didn't do, lol). I'm glad that we share some similar goals: buying local, completing novels we started and eating more fish (one of my silent/unspoken resol-oceans). I'm also glad that I gave you an excuse to enjoy a glass of wine at 4 in the afternoon. In fact, I'm so glad, I think I will do so myself in a show of solidarity. :-D

@Sheri. Thanks for the words of encouragement - I hope I can accomplish them all! Oh, and by the way, your Panna Cotta looks gorgeous. Way to go on a first attempt! I remember whipping up a dish that looked just like that and it really impressed my dinner guests. That is, until I told them that it was my first attempt at making ham steaks. Needless to say, the evening went downhill from there... (Thank God for scotch. lol)

@emmy. Whoa, whoa! Don't write me off so quick! I actually have a gluten-free book in the works. It won't have as many recipes as Table for Two, but I've gotten so many requests that my publisher suggested we do one. So keep an eye out!

@Anna. Feel free to steal anything from this blog, Anna! And as far as your attempt at the gluten-free thing? My goodness, if those cupcakes with the kumquat cheese frosting are any indication, I'd say you were on a roll! :-D

Im not a big fan of new years resolutions because most of the time they are stuff you should be doing and why wait until the end of the year. lol...Thanks for checking me out on foodbuzz. Check out my blog when you have a chance.

for me, sticking to gluten-free foods has really helped. im not celiac but i do know i am sensitive to gluten and possibly VERY sensitive to wheat...once i cut those two out my brain functions better, my mood increases, and my joints don't feel so swollen!

@Kelsey. I've heard that going gluten-free has helped folk who were not celiac. In fact, there will be a Table for Two gluten-free book out later this year (fingers crossed!) Thanks for stopping by. Here's hoping you have a wonderful weekend!

Ha, that's good timing I just wrote a 'Wish List 2012' post on my blog. There's nothing about New Years Resolutions on there tho, just a couple of kitcheny things I am covetting... that Scotch looks good btw, make mine a double, there's a love, and hold the ice, I prefer mine straight up. :o)

@Kooky Girl. I saw that today. And let me tell you, that fridge so rocks (I'm a sucker for all things that are even remotely retro.) BTW, for some odd reason I had you pegged for a Scotch girl. And I'll certainly make it a double and will hold the ice since you prefer yours, er, straight up... ;-) LOL (Happy New Year!)

@HowDoYouCook.com. As a matter of fact, Mary. I make it pretty much all over the southeast, lol. Keep an eye on my blog or Facebook page to see when I'll be back up that way again. Thanks for dropping by...glad the post brought a smile!

Order Your Copy of Table for Two Today. Click Here.

About the Chef

is the author of the award-winning “Table for Two – The Cookbook for Couples” and the newly-released "Table for Two - Back for Seconds". Do you wish to eat healthier at home, with ingredients you can find at your local grocer, with a minimum of leftovers? Chef Warren will show you how. Got a suggestion or recipe? Pass it along. We're in this together.